The invention relates to a process for producing heavy glycol esters in high purity.
Glycol esters with low VOC, and therefore high boiling points, are used as solvents in coating applications. It is important that these esters have low color and low odor. Therefore, it is important that the glycol esters have a low content of heavy impurities, which are commonly associated with undesired color, and light impurities, which are commonly associated with odor. Another aspect of the usage of glycol esters in coating applications is the cost of the material; due to the nature of the applications, the cost of glycol esters should not exceed the cost of similar materials commonly used in coating formulations. Therefore it would be desirable to have a process for the manufacture of high purity esters, which process would require reduced capital and have reduced energy consumption.